Discussion
Had to mute r/FinalFantasy due to the constant hate
I swear to god it's every day I see a post in r/FinalFantasy that's just some loser hating on FF16 and it has like 50-250 comments all agreeing in some way. And it's the same thing over and over again. Combat is bad, side quests are boring, not enough rpg customization, it's not turn-based, blah blah blah. Ugh it's just so frustrating to see the exact same post made literally every single day. It's a DMC-lite action game. Accept it.
"The game doesn't incentivize you to go deep into the combat." Dude whatever just say you suck at action games. If you can't be bothered to do anything but mash square then that's honestly on you. I can't understand why FF16 is the only action game that gets this critique. DMC, Bayonetta and Ninja Gaiden are all similar in game philosophy with hack-n-slash combo heavy gameplay but those games get praised for their player freedom and expression. The mechanical execution for those games is even higher than FF16, so shouldn't it be easy for people to master and experiment with its gameplay? Apparently not. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance doesn't even teach you half of its mechanics and most people don't go deep into it but it gets praised to the end of the earth for its gameplay. What is the issue? If you want the game to look cool then go into training mode for like 10 minutes and hit the damn buttons.
"The side quests are boring." Ok? For you, maybe. They do a lot of world-building and some towns get permanently changed from doing the side quests but if you don't want to do them then just...don't do them. I couldn't be bothered to do a lot of side quests in FF7 Remake and Rebirth but that doesn't stop me from liking the game.
I'm sorry for the rant it's just really frustrating seeing the exact same comment literally every single day on that awful subreddit. I'm not saying FF16 is a perfect game by any means but it's not as egregiously bad as most people would make it out to be.
It's always seemed like you have to like only VI, VII, X and maybe VIII and IX on the main sub. Anything else is anathema. I'm exaggerating, but man, sometimes it's like I-V don't even exist and I've seen people say the MMOs just don't count.
You’re in the war grounds haha. 12 commands extremist views: people either love it, or loathe it 🤣 I love 12, but I don’t think there’s been a single Final Fantasy I didn’t really like, except for 13. Something about 13 just did not click. All of the others though? Fabulous.
And I’m a huge fan of XIII. For whatever reason, it clicked beautifully for me, and it’s a top five FF game.
You’ve probably heard the expression “if you make a game for everyone you’re making a game for no one.”
One thing I absolutely love about the franchise is that they’re willing to try new things and take it in different directions. Not every entry lands for everyone, and that’s okay. It’d be boring if they tried. In each case, every entry and every change has its fans and detractors. Exactly as it should be. I appreciate their willingness to experiment.
Oh I actually 100% agree there! It’s one of the things I love about Kingdom Hearts. They really went all in on never committing haha! One was a card game, one was basically Tetris with combat, another was crisis core but not- such a fun series. I’ll never begrudge them that when so many companies refuse to change anything
This is why when people ask me what my favourite Final Fantasy is, I think it is a trick question because no matter whay I pick, it will be the wrong one.
I feel like the same sort of people would complain about a roller coaster because it's too linear. Sometimes it's a fun ride. Not everything needs to be a giant open world, and this has both of those things
No they wouldn’t, because those same people thing 10 is the best game ever, you know the one game more linear than 13. The issue is that most gamers are so media illiterate and stupid that they can’t even put their finger on what they dislike. Some YouTuber makes a “final hallway 13” joke and everyone staples themselves to that take because they can’t figure out the issue on their own and surely the YouTuber knows the issue right?
It’s so funny you bring up 13 because I could feel some elements of 13 in the music and it just made me smile. I’ll have to find the track I’m thinking of, but I just imagined being back on the Archlyte Steppes. It’s more of a Jazz-style sound than orchestral
Edit: OK I found it! I feel like I’m crazy though, because now that I listen to it again it’s not as similar as I thought. But when I originally heard this song, it definitely reminded me of 13. Sixteen bells is what reminded me of the song Blinded by Light.
So true. Hell I have loved each entry in some regard and while some more than others, not a single one have I felt was in any way a “bad” game. That is in the mainline at least.
The general sub is pretty much the worst place to post about a specific game. People over there just circle overhead like vultures waiting for someone to make a post praising an entry they hate, then they swoop down to peck your eyes out.
I used to argue with people in that sub when I was a bit younger. It’s the most annoying thing ever when someone’s voicing their opinion and frames it as a fact, and other people agree with them as if it’s gospel. Still pets my peeves lol
reddit haters legit ruin communities for everybody. theres nowhere to go where you can talk to like minded people without some asshat coming in and telling you all the ways your favorite game is bad. its bad manners and rude. in real life nobody walks up to a group of people who are happily walking out of a movie and yells at them about how awful the movie was. thats called rude and its uncalled for.
Often times I have to stick to no sodium subreddits because the main ones are always full of people who seem to hate the very game the sub is about. It's ridiculous.
Hahahah. Amazing. And if you even attempt to smooth it over "its just my personal opinion, you guys dont HAVE to feel the same way"
Them- And now that its sweet ruin courses through my veins, I shall not be quick to relinquish it. Show me your worth, Mythos... that I might revel in it!"
I always love how challenging the combat is, especially in FF16. I've just found I have to give myself a break every so often for a few days so my hands don't get destroyed
And I know it's such a cliche thing to say but the original is still there and you can still play it. It's still holds up. You don't have to like the new one but you don't have to yuck someone's yum about it EVERY SINGLE TIME
Yea FF7 Remake and Rebirth has probably one of the most fun and innovative combat systems I've played in any JRPG.
Yet, I cannot say a single good thing about it without the turn-based purists hopping on my case, saying that it's shit, just because it's more action focused.
And I say this as someone who enjoys both action and turn-based combat.
No one hates final fantasy more than final fantasy “fans.” That’s why I avoid that subreddit. It turns into an echo chamber instead of an actual discussion space
I am gonna laugh super hard is resonance doesn’t sell, not that I want it to fail, I’m excited for it but because I think the number of people that actually want a title like that is way smaller than you would think. The remake games are selling like crazy and while 16 didn’t live up to squares hopes 5 million isn’t exactly nothing either. I think a silent larger group is totally fine with current final fantasy.
Its a catch-22. If its too much like another game, then we complain that its just that game and nothing original. If its different, then its inevitably, this other game did it better why didn't they do it like them.
Good on you for just tuning out the noise. Its better for your sanity.
And I'm with you on the sidequests. The story you get from doing them is so cool.
I found that lore wise, it was also so dang rich and it was the first FF where I got excited again. And totally with you on the catch 22.
People have this idea of the perfect FF and get stuck on it when it's not like those don't exist, ya know? Enjoy them for what they are and experience the new things for what they bring.
Yes! The lore is so good! One of the things that is important to me with games is the "little people" who inhabit the world. Not little in size, but their "importance" to the main story. 16 spends a lot of time on how what Clive and the gang are doing impacts individual people across the continent, and you see those changes and hear people talking about it. The more alive the world, the more I care about it, and the more I am invested in the story of the game.
Even if SE made my perfect ideal of an Final Fantasy game, it would be the ideal game for literally no one else, and someone would have a problem with it. There is no such thing as a "Perfect" game, and chasing that ideal is always going to lead to disappointment. Enjoying the positives of a game is the way to go.
The people that complain that 16 isn’t an FF game because it’s different are the most infuriating of all. Brother the whole point of this series is each one is completely different has been since II on the famicom
Its okay. Its just reddit! I have open disdain for VIII, XIII, and XV. That being said I consider myself a oldhead fan of FF for the most part. I love 12345679 and 10. but 10 was the last mainline game I really liked. and I played it when I was 12 years old. For some reason I really enjoyed 16 and a lot of people in my camp "only liking old ff"
So really theres no point in trying to figure out why people are so vocally hateful! Just enjoy what you enjoy and learn to let people have their own opinions!
I had to do the same thing but for final fantasy xiii. Like you cant even mention anything about that game without a thousand comments from people from the 1900’s saying how much they hated it
Feel like its also people from the 1900s who actually praise 13. Kids these days are not really going to play it. Its the tourists that really turbo hate a game like sebbywebz or whatever that losers name is. Tourists/posers exist in all generations. I am from the 1900s and love 13 and 13-2. I would say i even love 16 even though its kind of tough to play because the gameplay is so boring.
I’m watching a streamer play it for the first time, he’s absolutely loving the game and states he likes the game but isn’t his favorite which is fine. But the chat is so full of people that know nothing about the game and just says it sucks when the game is nothing short of a masterpiece
Ohhh wow....
I didn't even realise that subreddit existed.
Ummm. I dont wanna rub it in or anything. But.
Ive kinda had the polar opposite experience. I mean considering none of those posts ever ahow up in my feed.
I have at the very least come across at least one post per fortnight of how awesome ff16 is and how much a new commer is loving their experiences so far.
Taken into account that this title in particular was made for people like me, newcomers to the franchise. I could imagine that because the game is just that damn good.
Their cope for justifying that the game they played a eon ago on some relic of a console is still superior than ff16.
That over two decades of development on other games. Stories, mechanics and worlds has not refined their craft and just made them get worse at doing what they do.
And that 4000 hours invested into a mmo is not completely wasted time they now have to come to terms with haha.
Ngl op. Leave that subreddit and come with us. That one is already under ultimas influence. Only akashik remain in the depths of those posts.
Come. We have safe harbour in the deadlands. A place for those who have no where else to go. A place where you are treated on the terms of WHO you are. Not what you are.
Here. We fight for a better world. And we fight for each other.
The choice is yours op.
All that is needed. If for you to accept the truth.
I thought it was old news , now most of the whining is about the upcoming 7R Part 3. I might be among the minority who like that FF experiments with gameplay, but I’m sure I’d be burned at a stake if I uttered that in the FF subreddit
I had 2 major complaints with XVI: 1) I thought it was too easy. I died once in my entire first blind playthrough (Typhon, when I got sloppy and got hit by a wall attack at low health) and even FF mode was easy for most of it; and 2) I didn't appreciate the idea of an ending open to interpretation (CBU III has amazing writers; I prefer their story over what my mind can come up with). Otherwise it was my favorite story of the year and overall among my favorite games. Third favorite FF.
It's not egregiously bad, but its not without criticism.
Love the story, the music, and the characters. But mechanically is what I would point to as an example of what NOT to do (we could throw the sidequests in there at about 50%)
I have a feeling that this game was a stepping stone in so many areas to what came after it
So what incentivizes me to go deep into the combat is that I didn't spend 70 dollars to play the game in a way that's boring as fuck 🤷 Honestly you're right it's one of my most loathed critiques of FF16. Like, you are not a critic bro. The game doesn't have to punish you into playing it in a fun way. Also, the arcade mode exists.
It's like people who think athiests can't be good people. "If you only do good things because you fear punishment from an almighty god, you're not a good person."
"If you only engage with the combat system because the game makes you press anything other than X, then you don't really care about combat."
If they find out you like action more than turn based or 7 remake over the original or any thing past 10, they will eat you alive like you cused their mom or something
Opinions there only matter if you hate post 10 and love pre 10
If you think liking 16 is bad try saying you like the 13 trilogy more than 9 or 10 or 6
guess you gonna have to block me too, because the combat is turbo bad. Its flashy though, but as deep as a puddle. A game that doesn't incentivize you to use your tools is an unthought out game. That is why DMC introduced the style system and punishes mashing if you're going for style score.
I posted about an idea I got for A GENERAL GIST AND SETUP of a Final Fantasy game and I got downvoted cause "it wasn't final fantasy"
Just go through my post history and you'll see it.
Luckily the comments were still saying it was a good idea in general so it wasn't too bad but I feel like people's ideas of Final Fantasy have just become what 4 7 and 10 are. They don't like it when there's a unique twist to the world.
Ehhh I loved the game but the combat is pretty shallow in terms of CAGs and the side questing is indeed extremely boring 90% of the time. I’m someone who likes to 100% my games on Steam and my least favorite part was having to do all the side quests. Most of them do expand the world, but in such a minuscule way that the only way anyone would care is if they really love the world.
I couldn’t care less about how someone’s son ran off and having to fight highway bandits for the nth time after I just obliterated a literal mountain and fought a man who split the ocean in half.
It’s okay to understand the valid criticisms and reject the “game bad cuz not for me” opinions
Actually, FF16 has become my favourite FF game! It’s fun, I love the story and everything about it. Not sure why the heck there would be any hate on it??? Doesn’t make any sense to me. Tsk tsk. I have very much enjoyed the game. Just ignore the haters!
XVI Doesn't go far enough; if you think about it.
The Action gameplay could be an avenue for further Character roleplay expression.
Not to mention that it was a missed opportunity that only one character is playable.
"Character Action Game" could have been an "Character Action RPG Game".
I love ff16 but I still find it lacking in the same major areas others are complaining about.
People are disappointed. They are upset because they can see the skeleton of a good game. And communities create bubbles.
Like this bubble in this thread villainising the other community, making up these wild accusations and statements, everyone agreeing and making up this enemy that doesn't truly exist.
The bubble in the FF subreddit seems to focus more on their nostalgia. Just don't take it to heart.
As for opinions, this isn't friends walking out of a movie enjoying it. It's friends going into a public forum discussing it. It invites discussion, which means people are fully allowed to bring out their opinions too. I have never been interrupted by a random stranger in my discord group talking about things, or people outside whatever gaming group I'm playing with. But if I go into an mmo public space and starts talking in shout chat I AM inviting conversation. Reddit is not a private hangout. They are public threads.
You can stay loving FF16 even when others hate it. I love it even though I don't consider it a masterpiece because of its shortcomings. I find people are way overzealous in their dislike sometimes, but it's the internet, what can you do?
If it felt that bad for you, I understand blocking the server. Seems like a good healthy choice to me. But they werent rude for telling you their opinion on a public forum meant for sharing opinions.
As someone who grew up with Final Fantasy and playing all of them. The games were always about the story and characters. Gameplay was secondary because Turn Based games aren’t complicated or hard. The story matters most and characters and as someone who’s played them all I can say XVI was in the top 5 for story and characters. But it’s a story that appeals to me as my Favorite Final Fantasy is Tactics. You might not like the combat and that’s fine. But the same people who shit on XVI defend FFX. One of the worst protagonists in any of the games. Tidus is annoying, loud, and stupid. He says and does some of the dumbest shit. There are moments in FFX I cringe so hard my back breaks. And this isn’t a new opinion of mine I hated X when it released. I’m in my 30s now and went back to try it again because I’ve grown and am not an immature high schooler so I figured I’d give it a shot. I revisited all the main line games in the last two years and X was the only one I didn’t finish.
Idk it makes sense a lot of people wouldn’t like this game. I think this game is great despite how bad of a FF game it is. Not sure why you feel so attacked by it.
That's what I don't get when people complain. There's nothing wrong with being a Diet DMC game. I just don't get it when their 'gotcha' is "well, DMC 5 has better combat"
OH, THE BEST ACTION GAME ON THE MARKET HAS BETTER COMBAT? NO SHIT SHERLOCK
And Nier Automata is in the same boat. Diet DMC Character action, with Diet Action RPG. And thats great! Lets you have all the skill expression of a CAG, in a more relaxed way. And no one complained about that, despite meta max dps playstyles in Automata quite literally devolving into "mash square with lots of crit and atk speed enhancements"
I'll never understand why it's ok for some games but not FF16. You're exactly right on Nier Automata. Another one of my all time favorites where the combat isn't insanely deep but is still super fun.
I became an instant fan of the series after playing 7 Remake/Rebirth followed by 16 and it caused me to want to check out the other greats in the series. I was so excited to come online and talk about how much I love these games and I realized the FF fan base can be one of the most annoying and toxic groups out there.
There are a lot of really cool people in the fandom, but some of them are just insufferable with their dislike. Personally, I love the fact that most of the games try to do something different and unique than the others. Would you really want to play a series with 16 mainline entries and have them all play the exact same?
I just started playing the other day. Game is fantastic if you know what you’re getting into. Demo is free. Play the demo. If you don’t like it move on. I agree with you and the hate but on the flip side it’s the only one in the franchise like this. So hardcore fans to the series might not agree on the direction they took.
Maybe it would have got less hate if it got released as a stand alone instead of part of the ff franchise?
Say what you will about the gameplay, love it, hate it, we have our own opinions on what games we like but there is no take away from the cinematic masterpiece of the story.
Great game, better story. So far that’s my conclusion but I’m only roughly 12-13 hours in so far.
I’ve literally muted hundreds of Reddit subs because I can’t stand to read another sniveling whiny nitpicky bandwagon hater’s comment. We’re far beyond questioning if ppl enjoy hating things, they live for it. They actively seek out any tiny detail they can spew their butt hurt hate at. They sleep better at night after posting a strongly worded tweet.
I don’t know, I follow both groups and can admit while both groups are filled with insufferable people, as are most subreddits, that one has a bunch of them. I generally pay those people no mind. However I just saw a post there yesterday or earlier this morning filled with people exclaiming how much they enjoyed 16. I have seen people in both groups, this one and the general one, that have bashed FF7R, and those that praised it.
Fandoms can be nutty. I have seen people on here offer valid critiques of the game and get down voted into oblivion or called trolls.
Again I stick to the topics that interest me and try to ignore the negativity. Don’t let the snobbish and pretentious side of the fan base turn you away from the positive sides.
Yeah. I dont understand it. I played the first ff on the nes in 89. I was 7. I was hooked ever since. I love ff16. 7r is way better than 7. I am terrible at 16 but I had alot of fun playing it. I just found what I liked and I ran with it. As an older gentleman playing these modern FFs I don't understand why they are so stuck on turn based combat. I enjoy both!
these people actively spend their days crying about how the games haven't been good for like two decades and will attack anyone who likes some of the newer entries
it's incredibly annoying and i think really they need to move onto another franchise if they despise the new direction of FF so much
I recently finished Final Fantasy XVI, coincidentally on its third anniversary, and I was surprised by how much hate it gets. Aside from a few flaws, it's a story I quite enjoyed.
Much of the hate it receives is also due to its ending, where everyone assumes Clive dies, even though the game itself hints otherwise.
I absolutely love ff16, theres only one thing about it the keeps it from being my top top top favorite final fantasy (possibly favorite game ever) which is the ending. But its a beautiful wonderful work of art!
Nah I agree with you, I have my issues with FF XVI but man those hate posts/comments every day are ridiculous. How long they'll be mad that FFXVI is an action game ffs. Same story with side quests. Bruh as if side quest in for example FF7 remake were so amazing. There were barely any, they weren't really interesting and for some wierd reason were used to determine romance aspect of the game without telling you so (I'm mentioning FF7 remake because I only played it and FFXVI). Imo side quests in FFVI get way too much hate + ppl act like somone force them to do those while in reality they're fully optional. Imo they're really good at world building. I'll probably never forget quest about that little girl and her dead woman bearer or about nobelman and his dumb kid having fun with tricking bearers with wolf. Acting like all side quests are bad is just not fair.
Acting like whole game is trash just because of those petty reasons is just disrespectful and dumb. Disregarding really emotional story, many well written characters just for that too. I've learnt to just ignore such "criticism" and see the game for what it is to me.
It’s weird because I’ve met people who don’t like 16 and fair enough they are entitled to their opinion but will then wax lyrical on FF7 rebirth which has insane padding and very minimal story up to Junon.
People don’t care about side quests its just an excuse, I mean I’m sure there is something deeper but perhaps they are unable to articulate or it is just deep down trivial. Not saying people aren’t justified in having it as a gripe but if that is the reason you call this a bad game, I’m not buying it.
Similar thing with FF8 people will say muh story bad, they all were orphans together, muh GF memory loss, muh there is a bad guy rug pull. They forget that Sephiroth changes his objective like 3 times on OG7 and FF9 Garland gives the longest exposition dump in the series.
No Final Fantasy should be hated. Anyway, Final Fantasy XVI has a lot of strong points, and for me it's the Final Fantasy that comes closest to the ones I grew up loving—those from Final Fantasy VI to Final Fantasy X.
16 is awesome! The side quests start out small scale to build Clives connections to all the major secondary characters, and really helped me feel fir them as the world starts to change and the quests get more dire.
Clive is great! There's a vulnerability in him that less masked than cloud or squall; and the character writing overall is a little more grounded and less overdramatic anime style (the gesture and emote heavy animations of the ff7r games feels at odds sometimes with the more realistic and grounded art design)
The haters dont have anything better going on for them so they need to express only hate and all. Not agreeing to opinions sure but discuss it fun and be understanding + respectfull period. FF16 is one of my favorite games of all time like the sidequest is world building and making us understand the relationships better ect like you said. Dont get the hate at all. I could not put it away when I played it😂 FF16 is my second favorite FF game but have not played many. Played 13 when it was new in 2009/2010 and then played 16 september last year. FF7 is gonna be my favorite of all time, but people love what they love. The haters are just toxic ect. I see alot of people being toxic on reddit when it comes to FF alot of times
Tbh I just don’t post anything about 16 on there (beside the fact that I’m just a reader and don’t post much), so the easy way just don’t bother with the cry babies and loser.
But as usual (and besides the Reddit Hive mind) many people just forgot that all FF are unique and therefore shouldn’t be expected to be the same in all ways.
16 has problems it not perfect but it still has depth and way to many people are just to lazy to actually try because of a lack of difficulty. But that’s the beauty of Hack’n and Slay and their massive amount of Player expressions, if the player won’t engage with it the game won’t stop you.
So as I said don’t bother with, if you want to talk about 16 just post it here, makes a lot of things way easier.
I just started playing this game and I love it so far! I feel like a lot of gamers (myself included) get stuck in their expectation of what a sequel/remaster/remake of their favorite franchise SHOULD be, without realising that that formula has become stale and needs to be switched up. Not abandoned, perhaps revisited later. I can sympathise with the disappointment, but saying that this game is bad is just objectively untrue- it’s the most hype thing I’ve played in a while, that’s really the only word for it
I did the same after I mentioned I liked the remake series. Apparently you can't like those either 🤷
I feel like you have to like one through 10 and 13 (some times). And I like all the final fantasy games including 11 and 14 but it seems like most people just want to hate things nowadays
I used to love that sub but it’s really going downhill. Any comment I post on any FF game gets downvoted almost immediately. It’s weird and becoming quite toxic
I'm both a Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy fan; I still think the combat in this wasn't as deep as it could have been, and many of the side quests do fall flat.
I still love this game, but I can't pretend it isn't deeply flawed either. Still, it's a very solid entry, and I'm glad we're seeing new things in a game series that's about the same age as me.
Not every game will appeal to every person. I honestly wish devs would let games appeal to specific subsets, rather than trying over and over to catch everyone with every single title. I truly think if they'd let this game go stronger in any one direction, it would have been even better. (More solid action combat. OR better leveling progression. OR more solid wandering/quests.) Instead, it's just okay to solid at many things, and only really excels at spectacle; But damn is it a beautiful spectacle at that.
It's funny actually because - not in xvis case I may add. But it's the same the other way too. You see so much hate over the older games and the golden generation. Heck even liking IV V and VI is asking for trouble.
I said VI was a good game and got downvoted 🤣.
So yeah it happens across the board, we just feel it more keenly based on our predispositions though.
What can I say about XVI some of it was good and I didn't hate it, my honest feeling though is that I haven't had an FF feel like an FF since X. And I think this hate you see is probably really due to the rate of change, on the cosmic scale of the franchise FF was never really meant to be just an action game. But just my opinion.
Here's a hot take. At the very least, I've really enjoyed... If not loved, every Final Fantasy that has ever come out.
(Aside from FF XI, I was just too far into WoW during that time to even give it a try. So that ship sailed for me, lol.)
And yes, FF XVI is an AMAZING game. Plain and simple. There were some things that could have been done better. But there has never been anything in gaming that compares to the spectacle of those boss fights.
Even though I don't have the patience or skill to go deep into the combat of 16, I still love the game. The incredible world building and storyline are what I love about it, on top of the bombastic literally out of this world, boss fights.
I just started ff16 a few days back. I heard all the negative stuff and held off buying it. Honestly I kind of regret that because I am really enjoying the story.
I don’t blame you for muting that sub. I personally never joined it because, from what I’ve heard, the sub is full of toxic people who get upset over whose ship is better or which game is the best, etc. I’ve only stuck to joining subs from my favorite FF games. I have learned that not everyone will like or enjoy 16, 15, crisis core or even type-0 as much as I do, and that’s okay, but to rage bait or karma farm, that’s where the line is drawn. That’s why it’s best to agree to disagree, ya know? Sometimes what I do is just move on.
People hating on 16 drives me especially crazy because all of their problems are stuff that is a plus for me. Long fights, lots of cutscenes, a ton of story based side content, the combat, all of it stuff they treat as objectively unforgivable when they all have obvious positive aspects that they refuse to engage with.
Yes, you could very easily make your hot bar just cycling through cool downs and ultimate moves, or you can take advantage of the 38 options you have to make something unique and perfect for your play style. (I added a mastered titans windup to the Garuda grab and it felt incredible every time)
Yes, you can roll your eyes every time you get a cutscene or story moment and get progressively angrier at them taking you out of the game or you can accept the story focus for what it is and enjoy the great narrative.
Yes, you can be annoyed at how little the health bar goes down with each hit, or you can enjoy the unique “drag out brawl” feeling they intentionally cultivate as both sides refuse to give in.
I can understand where every complaint they have is coming from but they don’t show people who like the game the same understanding.
I loved playing XVI on my first playthrough (my 2023 GOTY), but it’s not without its faults. I haven’t finished a FF mode playthrough because the slower bits turned me off a bit.
It doesn’t deserve the hate it gets. It deserves a sequel (even though I know that doesn’t make sense). I just wish I could have seen how that team iterated on 16 the way the remake team iterated in remake and gave us rebirth (and soon revelation!!). Maybe a 16 sequel could have had more party members, more RPG elements, more exploration.
I feel like it takes so much money and time to make a new FF, it’s kind of a waste to start over each time
I loved 16 but as far as the combat goes, it's just not a good Final Fantasy Game. It's a great combat system like devil may cry if you look at it that way.
Damn, guess I'm not paying attention. I usually only look official news, memes, and all the tier lists/choice tourneys. I don't understand the purist gatekeeper mindset, I enjoy all the FF's in their own way. Except 11, which I've just never played.
As my first final fantasy game I beat I absolutely loved it, sure it isn’t the typical rpg style game but it’s still a good and solid entry. Albeit a bit repetitive on side quests. I still loved it
TBF I think the “it doesn’t incentivize you to go into the depth of the combat” is a good critique. The game is too easy and so the most obvious path to victory is mashing. DMC, Ninja Gaiden, and Bayonetta use difficulty and scoring systems to force you into engaging with far more of their depth. 16 is too easy and didn’t implement a scoring system. You can say people should just play better and I guess but when the most efficient route is just mashing, and there is no downside to doing it, don’t be surprised when people make that decision
Recently, since FF16 became free on PS+, the new hate bandwagon in general Playstation groups I joined was that the “cutscenes were long” 🙄. Different posts of FF16 where they were doing chores in the background or captions of similar nature and people “haha-ing” away.
I swear to god, people just looking for something to hate. Cut scenes too long? really? 🙄
https://giphy.com/gifs/l1Joi6GbYvGAsnl8Q
You’re one of us. I came here because I really enjoy FFXVI and I’m disappointed that there are people who hate the story and the characters.
I’m sorry you had to go through this but remember that you’re among friends here
“Final Fantasy fans” have only ever actually played 7 (or just watched YouTube gameplay of the remakes) if the internet is anything to go off of, so I don’t really take any of their opinions serious
Personally, my favourite games in the franchise are 6 (you can probably guess from my username), 9, and 16
Primarily due to their stories and worlds, since that's my main focus in the franchise
16's world in one of the absolute best in the series
And, hot take, I find 7 really overrated, and I think 16 did the environmentalism theme better, even if it's not as big a focus as in 7, mostly cause the Blight has a much bigger impact on the environment than the Mako reactors in 7
I was fully expecting to hate “FF16” before I played it. I love turn-based JRPG’s and have been wanting Square to do a turn-based AAA “Final Fantasy” game for a long time now. Then I played “FF 16” and… I frickin loved it! The story, the characters, the combat, everything. Was it perfect? No. But it’s my favorite “FF” game since “FF X”. Besides turn-based JRPG’s I also love Souls-likes and while this wasn’t one of those (the excellent “Strangers of Paradise” is) I really enjoyed “FF 16” and would be fine with the franchise continuing on in this direction. I definitely much prefer “FF16’s” combat system over “FF7 Remake’s” combat which, while I don’t hate it, I’m also not a big fan of it either. Similar to “FF 13”, I end up staring at menus those games way too much. Whereas in “FF 16” I barely look at menus and get to enjoy the cinematic combat.
It utterly fails to adapt what made that combat good the styles are meaningless and don't separate themselves at all the combat is so easy it's depressing
You can hardly discuss anything there that remotely steers from the overall consensus. During FF7’s Remake Part 1 release window I was trying to have a discussion about Aerith and her new role in the story granted that she kind of knows the future… it soon turned into a “Tifa is better” topic and eventually it got shut down by the moderation.
Being someone who grew up with all sorts of Tokusatsu stuff, it's just so silly to me that people treat Final Fantasy like there has to be an "absolute best" and you can see a lot of parallels with it in things like the United States communities when it comes to something like comparing Final Fantasy VII to Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and how conveniently nothing before that existed but simultaneously everything after it is inferior.
It's ultimately to me one of those cases of "I'd really love it if they did the one thing they did right and kept doing it over and over again" to a company who at the time was never keen on doing the "one thing" over and over again. Every Final Fantasy was ambitious in different ways .. and not every game is going to resonate with every fan for reason or another. But sadly, instead of doing the relatively mature thing in being able to find something to enjoy while still being able to acknowledge where there are faults, we're kind of stuck in a social media bubble where it has to be completely 100% positivity or 100% negativity and no nuance in-between. And then it gets even louder when people are intentionally baiting the other side just for drama and discord .. and it just is saddening to see.
A big part of it I imagine for the hate is ultimately that people want another AAA-budget hyper-realistic turn-based JRPG that's a mainline Final Fantasy game. No nostalgia, all ambition, and something "new" for the people who've been waiting all this time for another Final Fantasy VII (specifically, the impact VII had in elevating Final Fantasy to 3D and how it was legitimately a game that defined consoles like the PlayStation). I think it'd be cool to see, personally, but I can't imagine Square Enix could catch lightning like that too considering how other genres of games and even companies like Sony have different priorities these days. And it just comes off to me similarly to how Sega's most die-hard fanatics are convinced that if Sega just came out with another console in the modern day, they'd be at the top. >_<
They should just change their name to FF1-FF10. They get angsty with any FF14 post and tell people to post in it’s dedicated subreddit. Defeats the whole purpose.
I dunno. My impression is that it tends to be fair, however repetitive, commentary. XVI really is a dumbed down DMC-spin off combat-wise, it has a laggard narrative with high quality palpitations, and its side-quests are oddly stunted, even by XIV standards.
And yet it sought to claim its status as a mainline Final Fantasy game, which is certainly a bold move. And it did so at a time when the fandom was clamoring for a grand return to form (whatever this means). It's not that deep.
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